Labour set to close the door on Third World migrants

Byrne: set to 'phase out' work permits for low-skill workers from outside the EU

Labour will today promise to belatedly close the door to low-skilled workers from the Third World amid evidence migrants are forcing Britons out of jobs.

Immigration Minister Liam Byrne will say enough immigrants are flooding into the UK from Eastern Europe to fill vacancies in agriculture and other low-paid jobs.

His comments, part of an orchestrated attempt by Labour to convince the public it no longer believes in an 'open door' policy, follow hard proof immigrants are pushing British workers into unemployment.

The Office for National Statistics yesterday revealed the number of people in work in Britain has soared to a record high on the back of the latest wave of migration.

But at the same time the UK saw a huge surge in unemployment over the past year, as the newcomers push the local population out of jobs.

Britain's workforce ballooned above 29 million in August - the highest since records began in 1971.

But unemployment rate soared to 5.5pc - equal to the highest since 2000 and the biggest one-year rise of any major economy. This time last year our unemployment rate was only 4.7 per cent of the workforce.

The number of people claiming jobless benefits is also climbing ever closer to the one million mark. October's figures grew by more than 10,000 to 962,000, yesterday's figures showed.

Young Britons are proving to be the biggest losers in the hunt for employment. Long-term youth unemployment has risen 30 per cent in the past year, and 54 per cent since 2004.

Experts said the figures underlined the huge impact uncontrolled immigration is having on the economy.

Economist Michael Saunders of Citigroup said: "Part of the rise in UK unemployment is because of the big inflows of low-cost immigrant labour from Eastern Europe. At the same time, that is also a big factor behind the recent acceleration in the growth of the UK workforce.

"It is not that Poles are ending up unemployed in the UK. In fact people from Eastern Europe are coming into the UK and displacing other workers."

Against this background, Mr Byrne will this afternoon tell a London conference of immigration experts that work permits for low-skill workers from outside the EU are to be 'phased out'.

The Government expects Eastern Europeans and other EU nationals will fill jobs in restaurants, building sites and agriculture.

More than 600,000 Eastern Europeans have already flocked here since EU expansion on May 1, 2004. Hundreds of thousands more are expected to follow when Bulgaria and Romania join next year.

As a result, the tens of thousands of non-EU nationals, many from Africa and the Asian sub- continent currently allowed into the country each year to do low-skill jobs will now be turned down for visas.

The only way in, Mr Byrne will say, will be through a new Australian-style points system.

This will grant permits only if there is a specific labour shortage such as for a huge building project.

The low-skilled migrants who are allowed in cannot bring their family, nor can they settle here permanently.

Critics point out, however, that closing the door to Third World migrants does nothing to stem the tide of Eastern Europeans.

Ministers are powerless to stop them arriving in record numbers because of EU rules on free movement.

There are also fears that it will lead to an increase in illegal migration as people desperate to make it to Britain refuse to take 'no'. Shadow Immigration Minister, Damian Green, said: "Another week another speech. When will this Government realise that slick announcements may get some headlines but they don't address real issues. "After nine years what the public wants to see is some real action from this Government.

"For example they should answer our call to immediately announce restrictions on entry to the UK from Bulgaria and Romania, following their accession to the EU."

The Government's shift of position follows the assertion by John Reid that a quota for the number of new arrivals seeking work from outside the EU will be set for the first time.

The Home Secretary has also said that - after a nine year free-for-all - the Government will consider the social consequences of allowing hundreds of thousands of foreigners into the country each year.